Robert m



(No Model.) R. M. EREAUX.

ALARM BOTTLE STOPPER.

No. 410.730. Patented Sept. 10, 1889.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT M. DEVEREAUX, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO J. S. MCDONALD, OF SAME PLACE.

ALARM BOTTLE-STOPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 41 O,730, dated September 10, 1889. Application filed July 26, 1888. Renewed August 9, 1889. Serial No. 320,201. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, ROBERT M. DEVEREAUX, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Alarm BottleStoppers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in alarm bottle-stoppers in which heretofore an alarm bell has been attached to the neck of the bottle and provided with a bent rod projecting over the stopper in such manner that in order to remove the stopper the rod must .be shifted so as to operate the alarm devices.

1 5 Such a construction, however, is objectionable, primarily, because of the obstruction of the neck of the bottle by reason of the at tachment thereto of the alarm-bell and operating devices, and also because of the uncerzo tainty of operation of such a device, which would be rendered wholly inoperative should the operating-rod become accidentally bent or purposely tampered with to an extent that would permit the removal of the stopper withoutengaging said rod, which at best can only have a slight engagement with the stopper.

The prime obj eet of this invention is to dispense with the necessity for attaching 0 the bell or any part of the alarm mechanism to the bottle by attaching them directly to, so that they will be removable with, the bottle-stopper.

Another object is to have a lock device for the stopper operated by the alarm mechanism in such manner that the winding up or setting of the alarm mechanism operates said lock devices, so as to unlock or release the stopper.

0 A further object is to have a lock device for the stopper connected with and operated by the alarm mechanism in such manner that the stopper can neither be inserted in nor withdrawn from the bottle without the alarm mechanism being first wound up or set, and

to have the alarm mechanism of such a character that immediately upon being released after being wound up the alarm will sound,

and simultaneously therewith automatically project the locking device.

I attain these objects by the devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a bottle, showing the neck portion thereof broken away and an alarm-stopper inserted therein embodying my invention; Fig. 2, a side elevation of the stopper and alarm-operating mechanism, showing the bell in central section; Fig. 3, a central vertical section through the stopper and alarm operating mechanism; Fig. 4, a horizontal section on the line at 4 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows, showing the alarmoperating mechanism in plan; Fig. 5, a detail horizontal section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 3.

Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Referring by letter to the accompanying drawings, A indicates a bottle; B, the stopper thereof, and C an alarm-bell mounted on and supported above said stopper by means of a bracket consisting of an upper and lower plate D E, respectively, the latter of which is provided with legs F for attaching the bracket to the stopper, both of said plates preferably being of less diameter than and concealed within the concavity of the bell, which has its sole support at and rests upon a nipple G, projecting upwardly from the center of the plate D, as clearlyillustrated in the drawings.

The mechanism for ringing this alarm-bell may be of any suitable character, but should be spring-controlled, or, rather, operated by a spring, and for clearness of description I have illustrated a simple form of mechanism for performing this operation, consisting of a convolute spring ll, secured at its ends, re- 0 spectively, to the plate D, in which a circular recess is provided for its reception, and to a central rotatable arbor I, passing axially through and j ournaled loosely in the nipple G, projecting from said plate. This arboris cyl- 5 indrical alongits bearing-surface and squared throughout the remainder of its length, and has loosely mounted thereon just below said spring a cog-wheel J, and rigidly mounted thereon immediately below said Wheel a ratch I00 et-wheelK, rotatable with said arbor, and with which engages a spring-pawl L, pivoted to the cog-wheel J in such manner that when the arbor is rotated, so as to wind up the spring, carrying with it the ratchet-wheel, the teeth of said wheel will passfreely by the pawl, -which, however, will engage the teeth immediately the ratchet-wheel is rotated in the opposite direction by the spring, thus carrying with it the cog-wheel J, which meshes with a pinion M, mounted upon a pintle to one side thereof, upon which is also mounted an escapement-wheel N for operating a vibrating escapement-lever O, to the outer free end of which is secured the bell clapper or hammer P, the vibrations of which ring the bell and sound the alarm in the usual manner.

The lower end of the arbor I works freely through a central bore Q in the stopper, and has mounted on the lower end thereof a pinion R, working in a recess S, provided for its reeeption near the lower end of the cork, with which pinion engages a toothed rack T, guided constitutes a lock-bolt for preventing the insertion in or withdrawal of the stopper from the bottle without the bolt being first withdrawn.

Thus the normal position of the bolt is that shown in all the figures of the drawings that is, projecting from the stopper-in which position the spring for operating the bell is run down and all the parts are at rest, and in order to withdraw the bolt it is therefore necessary to rotate the arbor operating the pinion, simultaneously with which movement the spring controlling the bell-ringing mechanism is wound up, but will unwind and cause the ringing of the bell immediately the stopper is set down or the winding-cap V, secured for convenience to the upper end of the arbor, released.

In the practical use of my bottle-stopper it is intended that the automatic projection of the lock-bolt shall prevent the possibility of either inserting the stopper in the bottle orwithdrawing it from the bottle without first operating the bell mechanism, so that immediately it is released the alarm will be automatically rung and the attention of the user thereby attracted. Thus when it is desired to take any portion of the contents out of a bottle provided with this stopper the operator must first wind up the alarm mechanism .in order to withdraw the locking-bolt; but immediately the stopper is put down or the winding-ring released the bell will ring and the operator be thus at once notified that he is handling poison or some compound of an equally dan- The slot gerous nature. Then, again, after removing the drug, when he desires to return the stopper to the bottle he must again wind up the bell-ringing mechanism before the stopper can be inserted in the bottle, and immediately after it is inserted and released the alarm will sound and the lock-bolt be simultaneously and automatically projected, thus subserving the double purpose of locking the stopper in the bottle and again calling the operators attention that he has been using poison.

It is of course immaterial of what size or length the cork is made or of what material it is composed, so long as it subserves the intended purpose, and it is equally immaterial as to the mechanism or devices employed for ringing the alarm-bell, so long as they will cause the bell to ring whenever released after being wound up, and simultaneously with such ringing to automatically proj ect the locking-bolt. Thus in the drawings I have shown the stopper of a sufficiently greater length than the neck of'the bottle to permit the locking-bolt to project under and engage the shoulder upon the bottle, so as to lock the stopper in position and consequently necessitate the rewinding of the alarm mechanism in order to remove the stopper from the bott-le; but it would obviously be no departure from the spirit of my invention to have the cork of the same or less length than the neck of the bottle, in which case the alarm mechanism, after being wound up and the stopper inserted in the bottle, would remain wound up until the stopper was again drawn out; but the construction herein shown and described is preferred by the double security afforded thereby in giving two alarms to the operator and locking the stopper in the bottle whenever it is inserted in position.

The foregoing construction obviates all danger from the accidental upsetting of a bottle, for the reason that, although the bottle may be accidentally upset, the stopper is so se curely locked as "to prevent the contents of the bottle escaping, and, furthermore, the liability to upset the bottle is substantially reduced because of the absence of all projections or mechanism upon which a dust brush or cloth is apt to catch when dusting or cleaning the bottles; and the importance of these advantages is obvious when it is re membered that the contents of bottles to which my invention is designed to be applied are not only dangerous to the attendant, but to others, when from any such accident they may be introduced into substances otherwise harmless.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1. The combination, with a bottle-stopper and a lock-bolt working therein and engaging the bottle, of an alarm-bell mounted on said stopper and a connecting and actuating mechanism simultaneously operating said bell and lock-bolt, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a bottle-stopper and a lock-bolt working therein, of an alarmbell mounted on said stopper and spring-controlled mechanism connected with and simultaneously operating said bell and lock-bolt, whereby when operated said mechanism will simultaneously withdraw said bolt and set the bell-ringing mechanism, and which when released will automatically and simultaneously ring said bell and cause the bolt to project, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination, with a bottle-stopper provided with a central bore, a bell mounted thereon, and a lock-bolt working therein, of a spring-controlled arbor working in the bore of the stopper, bell-ringing mechanism, and c011- nections between said arbor and bolt and between said arbor and the bell-ringing mechanism, whereby the rotation of said arbor in either direction will cause a simultaneous operation of said mechanism and bolt, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. The combination,with a stopper provided with a central bore, a bell mounted thereon, and a lock-bolt working in said stopper, of an arbor working in the bore of said stopper, a bearing therefor, a pinion mounted thereon for engaging and operating said bolt, a Winding-cap secured thereto, bell-ringing mechanism operated by said arbor, and a spring fixed at one end and attached at its opposite end to said arbor, substantially as described.

ROBERT M. DEVEREAUX.

\Vitn esses:

W. R. OMOHUNDRO,

A. M. BENNETT. 

